Wells REIT acquired the AON Center, a 2.5-million-square-foot, Class-A office building in downtown Chicago. Wells REIT purchased the property from New York-based Blackstone Group.
Located at 200 East Randolph St., the 82-story AON Center is one of Chicago's most prestigious office buildings. The building is the North American headquarters location for several of Chicago's largest companies, including: AON Corp.; national ad agency, DDB Needham; national public relations firm, Edelman Worldwide; and international real estate advisory firm, Jones Lang LaSalle. Other prominent tenants include accounting firm Deloitte & Touche and the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis. The property is currently 93% leased. Constructed in 1972, AON Center underwent an $80 million exterior renovation in 1992.
In 2002, Wells Real Estate Funds was the largest purchaser of Class-A office buildings in the United States according to New York-based Real Capital Analytics, completing 30 transactions totaling more than $1.4 billion. Earlier this month, Wells REIT announced it acquired the Class-A, 929,694-square-foot US Bancorp Center in downtown Minneapolis for $174 million from Chicago-based Equity Office Properties Trust. Wells is targeting 2003 acquisitions of $2.5 billion. Secured Capital Corp. represented Blackstone Group in the sale of The Aon Center.